Harvard Basketball Coach Pete Roby is a really nice guy, but he sure has a funny way of showing it to his players.

The Crimson cagers opened the season in the Lapchick Tourmanent--a tourney Big East power St. John's has won 13 consecutive years--and were easily defeated by the Redmen, 105-60.

Then Harvard met Boston College two weeks ago, and the high-flying Eagles with star Dana Barros crushed the Crimson, 121-80.

And this weekend Harvard will hit the road to take on a pair of national powers in Stanford, Friday in California, and Duke Monday in Durham, N.C.

"I think its a learning experience, a reward for our guys putting time and effort in," Roby said.

"We're all really excited about it," forward Kevin Collins said. "Now that we have [the Brandeis] game behind us, we can just look ahead to playing against two top-20 caliber teams. We have the athletes to play with them and we're going to go out and try to knock one of them off."

That may not be so easy to do, especially against the Blue Devils. In addition to being one of the best teams in the nation, Duke--ranked fourth in the current issue of Sports Illustrated--is especially tough at home.

The Blue Devils fans are infamous for their mean and nasty treatment of visiting players. In fact, the Blue Meanies may be even worse hosts than, gasp, Cornell hockey fans.

"I don't know what it's like since I've never played down there," Collins said, "but I like playing in front of a mean crowd. It pumps me up."

In the last meeting at Durham, Duke pounded Harvard 89-52, and last year at Briggs Cage, the Blue Devils triumphed, 98-86.

It is unlikely the young Crimson squad will defeat Stanford or Duke. Harvard never has beaten either team, losing five times to each squad.

"But that doesn't mean we're not going there to win," Roby said. "We're going to Stanford to win the game. We're going to Duke to win the game, but you have got to be more realistic about the Duke game, obviously. Very few people beat them there."

Why Mikey Can't Shoot: Tri-Captain Mike Gielen can shoot the ball. He really can.

Last year, the junior averaged 10.2 points per game for the Crimson, while shooting a solid 47.4 percent from the field.

But this season, Gielen is struggling. Sure, the point guard is averaging 13.8 p.p.g., but his shooting percentage is a frigid 34.5 percent.